Allstate sins 3 & 4: Running doctors out of business and using alleged “corporate irregularities” as reason to refuse payment of No-Fault benefits

Allstate sins 3 & 4: Running doctors out of business and using alleged “corporate irregularities” as reason to refuse payment of No-Fault benefits

City of Detroit making it hard for accident victims to receive No-Fault insurance benefits

Below is a letter to Kevin Clinton, Michigan’s new insurance commissioner, from a Detroit accident lawyer. This letter is a good example of how auto insurance companies, including municipalities like Detroit, are making it nearly impossible for seriously injured bus accident victims to recover their No-Fault insurance benefits.

April 18, 2011

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

Kevin Clinton, Commissioner
Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation
611 West Ottawa Street, 3rd Floor
Lansing, MI  48933

Re:    Claimant

Dear Mr. Clinton:

I have listed one of my clients in the above caption, but the problems presented in this letter are now occurring with many of my clients, as well as for those accident victims who I frequently assist as a courtesy.

Recently, the City of Detroit Law Department has implemented new procedures that have made it much more difficult for bus accident claimants to recover Michigan No-Fault (PIP) benefits, for accidents involving City of Detroit  vehicles (i.e. DDOT).  The following is a list of problems that the City of Detroit  has created for new accident claimants:

1. The City of Detroit now requires claimants to print 14 pages of forms off of the Internet and mail them to the City, before they will issue a claim number. Many of these forms go far above and beyond what is required by MCL 500.3145 and it is intentionally burdensome. I am also concerned by the large number of residents who do not have Internet access. It also raises fundamental fairness concerns as to why the City of Detroit Law Department is creating these unnecessary obstacles with residents, many of whom will struggle to complete these 14 pages of unnecessary and complicated paperwork.

2. They have eliminated the ability of accident victims to report accidents over the phone, which every other insurer in Michigan allows.

3. The City of Detroit investigators (insurance adjusters) are not contacting the accident claimants by phone or via mail, and are not providing bus accident victims with their claim number information. As a result, many doctors will not treat these people for auto accident-related  personal injuries. This is contrary to the entire purpose and intent of the Michigan No-Fault Act, which is to provide prompt care and recovery to accident and injury victims.

4. When the clients call the City of Detroit claims adjusters and investigators, the voice mails are full and there is no way to leave a message.

5. The City is not paying bills on a timely basis pursuant to the No-Fault Act.  This  is not a recent development with the City of Detroit.

It is unacceptable for the City of Detroit, as a self-insured entity, to be allowed to treat its residents in this manner. On several occasions, I have had to call one or more of the attorneys on staff at the Detroit Law Department just to get a claim number. A person should not be forced to have to hire a lawyer just to get a claim number.

Very truly yours,

Jeffrey A. Bussell

Michigan Auto Law

- This blog was written by Jeffrey A. Bussell. Jeff joined Michigan Auto Law’s pre-lawsuit division with extensive experience in No-Fault insurance litigation. He works closely with car accident victims in the early stages of their lawsuits.

Related information:

Michigan Auto Law Detroit office

Legal loophole lets SMART bus off the hook - despite causing serious bus accident

3 potential cases for Michigan auto accidents

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our auto accident lawyers.

Michigan Auto Lawyers

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Warning: Why the City of Detroit is jeopardizing No-Fault benefits to bus accident victims

Yesterday, I posted an open letter to the Michigan insurance commissioner regarding the City of Detroit’s new and deliberate policy of making it very difficult for Detroit residents to file an insurance claim. The real question is why? And here is where our Detroit accident lawyers have come to a disturbing conclusion: the City of Detroit wants to take away the rights of injured bus accident victims before they can even make a claim.

In yesterday’s open letter, we discussed the hoops bus accident  victims have to jump through to make a No-Fault insurance claim with the City of Detroit. Not only can victims not make a claim over the phone or even in person, but they now have to complete 14 pages worth of online forms that are very confusing and hard to fill out.

Under Michigan law, bus accident victims have 60 days to file a claim.

So if a bus accident victim does not make a No-Fault claim within the mandated 60 days because he or she is unable to jump through the hoops Detroit itself poses, then the city will not have to provide insurance benefits.

That’s right, if you’re injured in bus accident and have to make a claim with the City of Detroit, you only have 60 days from the date of the accident to give notice to Detroit that you’re going to make a claim.   MCL 124.419 states that all claims that arise from a transportation authority (City of Detroit, SMART, etc.), must have written notice given to the city or transportation authority no later than 60 days from the date of the injury.

Detroit knows that many of its residents and accident victims don’t have access to the Internet, and then there are those that might not have a printer to print out and complete the forms. The lawyers at the City of Detroit Law Department also know that by the time many of these bus accident injury victims figure out they have 60 days to make an insurance claim, they will still have to make the satisfaction of the city.

How many Detroiters do you think are going to lose their Michigan No-Fault insurance benefits forever, before the 60-day time limit expires?

And what does this mean to all of you, whether you are injured in a bus accident or not, or live in Detroit or not?  Well, for one, it means a waste of your tax money and an added burden on our court system. If these injured people can’t make a No-Fault claim with the City of Detroit, the medical bills get turned over to Medicaid.

Therefore, the City of Detroit is trying to place the burden of No-Fault Insurance onto you, the tax payer.  What’s more, these injured people are having to call and hire Detroit personal injury lawyers for a simple claim they are entitled to automatically file under the Michigan No-Fault law.

Stand up to bureaucracy and tactics like these from the City of Detroit. Tell them you don’t want to pay for the auto insurance benefits they’re responsible for and to stop taking advantage of Michigan drivers.

If you’ve been injured in a bus accident or other vehicle involving the City of Detroit or another transportation authority, call Michigan Auto Law at (800) 777-0028. We can answer all of your legal questions, and we will fight for your No-fault insurance benefits. We even have a law office in downtown Detroit.

- Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top personal injury lawyers handling auto accident lawsuits. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Related information:

SMART bus’s outrageous tactics for avoiding bus accident liability comes to a screeching halt

SMART bus accident takes another injured person for a ride

Michigan truck accident resource center

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our bus accident lawyers.

Michigan Auto Lawyers

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.